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Originally published on News With Views November 22, 2009
The Peterson PerspectiveUnited States New World Role: Low Level Nuclear Waste DumpU.S. Senate Bill 1733 – Promotes Nuclear Power & Coal Industries While Enriching Venture Capitalists, Banks & Wall Street at Taxpayer ExpenseRosalind Peterson, November 22, 2009
The United States, under President Obama, is allowing U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to make agreements with foreign countries (already alleged to have signed an agreement with Italy), to bring in radioactive waste into the United States for processing and storage. [2] The United States is now in the process of importing low-level radioactive waste from foreign countries. Energy Secretary Chu has signed an agreement in 2009, with Italy, to take their radioactive waste. There may be more agreements in our future unless the public objects and says no to this new policy. Mexico, Canada, England, and other countries will all be making deals with the U.S. in the near future. (It is alleged that there is a court case in progress with regard to this issue according to statements made at the October 16, 2009, U.S. House Hearing.) [2] The amount of low-level radioactive waste produced in the U.S. has been reduced, according to statements made at the U.S. House hearing on October 16, 2009, in the last ten years.[2] Now, with the U.S. agreeing to take low-level radioactive waste, process, and store it in the United States, there is no incentive for foreign countries to reduce the amount of radioactive waste they produce. They can just make agreements to dump their waste in the United States to be processed and stored here in dump sites in Idaho, Washington, and other states. In addition, the United States has no place to store radioactive waste for the long term or process this waste which is produced by the nuclear power plants we already have in use. Hanford, Washington, has a massive radioactive site which is leaking radioactive toxics into surrounding water sources. Military sites are also on the EPA toxic clean-up list – waiting for funding. Many onsite ponds at nuclear facilities are filled with radioactive materials waiting for storage, in the future, because there are no facilities that can reprocess or store this waste. Another critical issue facing the United States in the near future is U.S. Senate Bill 1733 (which is being rewritten at this time according to Senator Barbara Boxer’s Office). This bill proposes, streamlines or eliminates regulations that would have protected the public and drive funding for new nuclear power plants in the United States. [5] This bill is a nuclear and coal driven, offshore oil drilling boondoggle. U.S. Senate Bill 1733 (or introduced under another Senate Bill #), will be brought before the U.S. Senate for passage in 2009. Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry,[5] are driving this bill forward in the U.S. Senate.[26] This bill promotes nuclear power as a “so-called clean source” of energy. This is far from the truth when one considers the amount of water needed to cool these plants, the release of water vapor (a greenhouse gas), from these plants,[8] the amount of radioactive waste that will need to be stored safely for generations, and the negative impacts of uranium mining. To say that this is a source of clean energy, considering the safety violations and accidents at many of the plants in operation, fined or closed due to these problems, is to entirely avoid this problematic and costly solution to our energy needs. It should be noted that citizens from California (Senator Boxer’s home state), and from around the United States fought against increasing the number and construction of nuclear power plants for these reasons and continue to stand guard against having to begin this fight again. Mendocino County, California stopped PG&E from building a nuclear power plant, at Point Arena on an earthquake fault years ago, and are prepared to stop new attempts in the future. The NRC map of proposed plants is a warning for citizens in areas where these plants are proposed to be built in the near future if U.S. Senate Bill 1733 passes this year,[4] or in the near future. In addition, the U.S. House Hearing on October 16, 2009, elicited the fact that thirty (possibly one-hundred), new nuclear power plants are planned for construction in the United States, [4] in the near future, without the facilities to process or store nuclear waste or to protect our water, soil, air, and humans from the consequences of increased uranium mining, radioactive waste problems, and power plant accidents. As well , our public lands are proposed to be auctioned off, at bargain basement prices, to mining interests in the United States. Foreign countries with uranium will have increased pressure placed on them to open and exploit their uranium mines polluting their air and water. This plan continues our dependence on foreign uranium sources for our nuclear power plants. Medical & Other Risks Uranium Mining & Nuclear Power Plants[19]
The U.S. Energy Department, under Secretary Chu, has been awarding monetary contracts to universities and others who will be working in the nuclear energy field. This money could be awarded to universities for the study and promotion of alternative sources of energy and alternative means of transportation. We should be using TARP and other funds for research and development of alternative clean sources of energy and transportation instead of studies designed just to promote the costly and highly polluting nuclear power industry.[10] In addition, our military service branches use a tremendous amount of oil-based energy – this issue should also be addressed in order to reduce this demand. It should be noted that aircraft affect climate. [25] According to the book, Aviation and the Global Atmosphere (IPCC), “…Aircraft emit gases (this includes carbon dioxide and water vapor both greenhouse gases), and particles directly into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere where they have an impact on atmospheric composition. These gases and particles alter the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases...” Another deficiency of U.S. Senate Bill 1733 is that it does not address the impacts of aviation (either commercial or military), with respect to their negative impact on climate or increasing pollution from their fuel emissions. [27] It is time to oppose bringing in any nuclear waste from any foreign country-contact your elected representatives today. U.S. House Bill 515,[3] bans the importation of all types of radioactive wastes now and in the future if it passes without exceptions to this rule being written into the legislation. And we should restrict Energy Secretary Chu from signing agreements with regard to importing nuclear radioactive waste immediately before he makes more agreements with foreign countries. It is time to defeat U.S. Senate Bill 1733 due to the above deficiencies. This bill only regulates one greenhouse gas (not the six or seven other greenhouse gases which include water vapor, nitrogen oxides, methane, hydrocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons, and CFC substitutes, halon and methyl bromide emissions (25). This legislation will undermine the EPA Clean Air and Water Acts and gut the powers of the EPA, while rewarding the nuclear, oil, and coal industries with the ability to continue to pollute through being given free offsets (credits), or the ability to “buy and sell the right to pollute.” [11] |
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